Volume 14 > Part 4 > Year 2020 > Page 667 > Vitaceae > Tetrastigma

29. Tetrastigma sp.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Large climber. Stem compressed, young branches terete, pubescent with brownish to black hairs; mature stems corky; tendrils simple. Stipules scale-like with age. Leaves compound, trifoliolate or pedately 5-foliolate; petiole 1.5–7 cm long, pubescent with brownish to black hairs, base pulvinate; leaflets papyraceous; terminal leaflet petiolule, 0.5–1 cm long, pubescent with brownish to black hairs, blade narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, 8–13 by 3.5–5 cm, base cuneate, margin coarsely serrate with minute protruding vein tips, apex acute to attenuate or acuminate; lateral leaflet complex petiolules 0.2–0.6 cm long, pubescent with brownish to black hairs; lateral leaflet petiolules 0.2–0.5 cm long, pubescent with brownish to black hairs, blade elliptic, 7–13.5 by 2–4.5 cm, base cuneate or asymmetrical, margin and apex as terminal leaflet; veins conspicuous on lower sides, midrib protruding on both surfaces, glabrous, 1 main basal vein, 5–8 pairs of secondary veins, veinlets conspicuous, protruding on lower surface. Inflorescences in female plants axillary on young stems, single, compound umbels, globose, 3–5.5 cm in diam., compact; peduncles 0.5–2 cm long, pubescent; male plants not seen. Female flowers: bud ovoid, 2–2.5 mm long; pedicels 2–4.5 mm long, pubescent; calyx disciform, margin undulate, ciliate; petals ovate, 2–2.5 by 1–1.5 mm, apex hooded, outer surface densely papillose, margin entire; disc inconspicuous; staminode clavate, ca 1 mm long; ovary conical, 1.2–1.5 by 1.5 mm; style sessile; stigma 4-lobed, rounded, ciliate. Fruit not seen.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai; EASTERN: Chaiyaphum; SOUTH-WESTERN: Prachuap Khiri Khan; CENTRAL: Lop Buri, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok).

Distribution : Endemic to Thailand.

Ecology : Shaded areas by streams, 5–850 m alt. Flowering: December–April; fruiting: July–October.

Notes: Tetrastigma sp. Is close to T. pachyphyllum and T. siamense. It differs from T. pachyphyllum by having narrowly elliptic or lanceolate leaflet blade, the margin not recurved into the apex and petiole covered with brownish to black hairs, while T. pachyphyllum has lanceolate, obovate or rarely elliptic leaflet blade, the margin more or less recurved into the apex (making the leaflets look spathulate in shape) and verrucose petioles. It also more or less resembles T. siamense in its leaves but differs from it by the indumentum of the petioles and petiolules that is pubescent with dense brownish to black hairs, while in T. siamense it is pilose or glabrous. The berry should allow these variable taxa to be differentiated but we do not have berries from this taxon to compare with those of T. pachyphyllum and T. siamense. More complete specimens are still required before the taxonomic status of this taxon can be confirmed.